The protagonist’s meeting with Tsubaki leaves him flustered.
Despite the lack of action in the last few episodes, the second season of the Wind Breaker anime has been anything but boring. After talking to Kaji, Sakura heads to his classmates and makes a confession. But instead of making their hearts flutter, it makes them angry? When they rendezvous on the school’s roof for an impromptu meeting called by Umemiya, Sakura meets a person who is sure to make a grand impact on his life.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Sakura’s classmates don’t react to his heartfelt apology the way he had expected
The opening of the episode is quite painful, when we see how Sakura has been walking a tightrope all his life. Thinking he will get hurt and people will reject him again if he makes the slightest mistake. But sometimes, falling onto the ground, getting up and walking freely is much more liberating than holding onto a painful past.
With this in mind, Sakura addresses all his classmates, confessing that up until now, he thought he had to do everything alone. But he has realised that he can’t, and took the frustration of failure out on his classmates. He is lame and weak, and he’s sure they’re disappointed in him as a grade captain. But that’s who he is, and he will likely cause everyone trouble again. So he asks them for their forgiveness.
Of course, his classmates don’t react the way he thinks. After a hilarious scene where Sugishita kicks him and some other boys attack him, Anzai tells him how stupid he is. He says they already know he is headstrong, awkward, and a pain, but chose to love and trust him anyway. The fact that he cares so much about everyone that he was ready to go save someone he doesn’t even know only proves what a great person he is. The rest of his classmates agree, especially Suo, Nirei, and the rest, saying they’re offended that Sakura thought so little of their trust. The scene resolves beautifully, with us seeing Sakura finally jump down from the painful tightrope and following his new friends into a better future. Colours bloom into his black-and-white life as for the first time, Sakura looks forward to living instead of just surviving on his own.
Tsubaki’s entry in the anime is as grand as I’d hoped for
Of course, Sakura’s friends don’t leave him alone, and drag him to eat together at Pothos. There, they share their deepest fears to show how everyone is a little lame and Sakura doesn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Kotoha is happy to see Sakura finally finding a place amongst these rowdy boys. The moment when everyone looks at Sakura’s laugh, absolutely awestruck by such a sight, was really heart-touching. The protagonist notices a girl walking behind Umemiya and Hiragi through the cafe’s door. She has red highlights in her long hair and waves at him before leaving.
The next day, Sakura finally meets the mystery person when they’re called for a meeting on the rooftop by Umemiya. It turns out that one he thought was a girl is actually a student of Furin High named Tasuku Tsubakino. They’re technically a boy but love to dress up in skirts and heels, and want people to call them Tsubaki-chan. Sakura wins brownie points when, despite being surprised by their attire, he has no bad reaction and even compliments them.
We learn that Tsubaki is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Bofurin. They also introduce Sakura to their vice captains–Seiryu and Uryu Sakaki, twins who have wildly different personalities. The protagonist is also flustered after seeing Tsubaki showing affection towards Umemiya. We then learn that they have a crush on the Bofurin leader.
I can’t be more proud of Nii Satoru’s manga and the anime for being so open about including a character like Tsubaki in the story. Not only are they incredibly strong and kind, but also express themselves freely without any prejudice. I also can’t wait for Sakura to learn about Tsubaki’s life and fight alongside them in the future. This episode was incredible, with both Yuma Uchida (Sakura’s VA), and Ryōta Ōsaka (Tsubaki’s VA) delivering amazing performances in their roles. Uchida did an especially phenomenal job at expressing Sakura’s emotions during the confession scene. Along with thousands of fans, I’m also eagerly waiting to see what happens next! The 19th episode of Wind Breaker will be out on 8 May, 2025.
Want a thorough break down of each episode? Check out our Wind Breaker Season 2 review compilation!
